Strong
by Evervescent
Summary: Being strong was not a trait Kagome always had, but it certainly was one that Inuyasha possessed. One painful new moon experience leaves Kagome with new found fortitude, and Inuyasha with some emotional bruises and a new view on how harmful his power had the potential to be.


A/N: I've had this one-shot idea for a while, and was really just feeling up to writing it. It's my first piece that's ever come close to any sort of angsty/hurt type thing, so let me know how I did!

I hope you enjoy reading it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha and his friends or the other characters, etc.

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"Honestly, Kagome, this has to be the stupidest idea you've had yet," Inuyasha grumbled, pushing a tree branch away from his eyes and glaring at the girl in front of him, who seemed oblivious to his anger and was beaming.

"Inuyasha, it has been three whole days since I have last bathed. This is the only time today we've stopped. I don't care if it's nighttime, I am going to take a bath." She paused for a second to adjust her backpack over her shoulder. "Deodorant doesn't qualify as a shower-in-a-can, you know?"

"Dee-yo-what?"

"Never mind." She waved him off. "You should be back indoors with Miroku and Sango, it's your human night, I don't want you getting hurt."

He scoffed. "What, and let you stay out here, alone and defenseless?"

Though he couldn't see her, she rolled her eyes. "I'm not defenseless!"

"Oh yeah? You broke your bow and arrows at the last village fighting. I don't suppose you secretly know how to fight with your fists?"

Kagome wrinkled her nose and screwed her lips together to keep from screaming. "Well Tetsusaiga won't transform for you tonight, so we're even, aren't we?"

"So? It's still a functioning sword, and I, unlike you, _can_ fight with my fists. Besides, dawn will break in half an hour, couldn't you have waited until I'm hanyou again?"

"No, because the second you are, you'll be waking us up and trying to get us to leave!"

"Stupid girl. Fine, just shut up and let me protect you, then," he mumbled.

Glad that he couldn't see her face from his position behind her, Kagome hid a grin behind her hair. His sweetness really did shine through at the strangest times. Maybe that was what drew her to him.

"Just don't look, okay? If I catch you peeking, you'll see what kind of fighting I can do bare-handed."

Inuyasha involuntarily flinched. Even with her hands and feet tied, all she needed was her voice and that one word, the bane of his existence, to bring his face to the ground.

"Keh, I'm not Miroku, give me some credit." He tucked his arms into the sleeves of his haori and continued forth behind her. His eyes darted around, carefully sizing up the forest around them. He gritted his teeth and growled as best as he could. With humans senses that night, he had no clue what could have been lurking. His eyes could see Kagome just fine, as she was only a few feet in front of him, but the dark forest with no moonlight filtering through the canopy was beyond his vision.

Kagome stopped and turned to look at him curiously. "Inuyasha? Is something the matter?"

He took his eyes off the woods and looked at her. "No. Keep going, hopefully we can get back before the sun rises and we have to leave."

She looked at him a little longer before nodding and making a sound of agreement.

Not too far ahead lay the hot spring that the innkeeper had told her about. Excitement filled her at the sight, and she whirled to face Inuyasha. "No further for you, dog-boy, you wait here, and no matter what, no peeking!" She shook a finger angrily at him, as though it gave the words more of an effect.

With an irritated sigh, Inuyasha plopped down behind a tree, making sure he could still hear Kagome rustling around in her bag. He concentrated as well as he could on any little sounds from where Kagome was, not daring to close his eyes lest he miss an obvious demon coming towards them.

It wasn't too hard for him to hear the very loud and obvious screaming of Kagome. He was on his feet faster than he thought possible and rushing into the clearing, coming face-to-face with the image of a large boar demon hovering over a, thankfully, clothed Kagome.

She turned to him, a rather angry look set on her face. "Didn't I tell you no peeking, no matter what?!"

"Are you kidding me?" He screamed, drawing the untransformed Tetsusaiga and leaping in front of her as fast as he could, brandishing his weapon threateningly at the youkai. "Is that really what's on your mind now?"

"Yes!" She called as she scooted backwards on the grass away from the fight. "What if my clothes weren't on?"

"Then I'd be stuck in the ground from your 'osuwari's' and you'd be dead!" Inuyasha leaped to his left, narrowly avoiding the large, swiping claws of the boar. With a battle cry, he braces his feet on the ground and charged straight at the demon. With a surprisingly agility Kagome hadn't seen in his human form, he kicked off the demon's leg and used it as leverage to launch himself into the air.

Sword raised high above his head, he brought it down hard on the youkai's head. It connected, and the boar demon let out a loud howl before swatting Inuyasha off him.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome ran to where he had landed, mere inches from her and now a few meters away from the youkai. "Are you okay?"

He grunted and raised himself onto his elbows, the hand grasping his sword shaking. "Yeah, no worries." Using the Tetsusaiga, he managed to push off the ground and on to his feet. As son as he was standing upright he took a shaky step forward, and Kagome watched in horror as blood dripped down from his left arm.

"Inuyasha, you're hurt!" He stood and reached for him, but he jerked his arm away and kept walking forward.

"We don't have any time to deal with it, just stay back and out of the way," he said, his voice heavy and gruff. Without any weapons of her own, Kagome could do nothing but comply.

"All right, you bastard," Inuyasha ground out through his teeth. "Here I come!" Running as fast as he could, he headed right at the staggering demon, who was still recovering from the blow to his head.

However. the blow has only slowed him down. Weak as it was, sheer size made him enough of a difficult opponent for a human Inuyasha.

With the sword at his side this time, Inuyasha struck again, swinging left and managing to cut into the demon's side. Blood oozed from it's wound, and taking advantage of it's weakness, he aimed for the same spot again, bringing the demon down to it's knees.

With a cocky grin, he hefted the sword onto his shoulders. "Pathetic thing, was barely worth the struggle." With his eyes fixated on the demon's head, he didn't even notice the leg that kicked out, knocking Inuyasha down flat on his back.

The breath flew out of his lungs and he desperately inhaled to refill them. Kagome gasped as he fell, and without hesitation, she leapt to her feet and ran towards him and the demon.

Tilting his head back, he could see Kagome coming towards them. Still short of breath, he managed to stutter out, "Kagome... stay back..."

"Inuyasha!"

He jerked his head back forward, mustering all his strength so he could try to stand. What he saw horrified him.

The demon back on it's feet, a leg raised above him about to come down, and Kagome throwing herself headfirst at it.

"Kagome, you stupid—!"

He cut himself off as he watched, mouth agape, as she drew back a fist and, with a battle cry, launched it straight at the hovering leg.

The demon didn't stand a chance.

Her fist glowed, and the second it made contact, the leg had been fried clear off. Bracing himself, he stood and lifted his sword, throwing it as straight as he could at the demon's heart.

He watched, relieved, as it pierced through the demon's chest and brought it to the ground, dead.

"Wow,." He jerked his head towards Kagome, who was breathing heavily from her attack. "That was a really good hit."

His eyes darted down to her right hand, still coiled into a fist, and after seeing no injury, he grinned. "Yeah, you too." He walked over to the fallen boar demon, grasping his sword and sheathing it. "I thought you couldn't fight with your fists."

"Neither did I," Kagome said in amazement, staring down at her hand. "I guess I've spent so much time watching you, Sango, and Miroku fight that I picked up a thing or two in the back of my mind."

"Lucky your spiritual powers kicked in, or you would have been dead with a broken hand." Inuyasha marched over to her. His eyes softened as he looked down at her.

Internally, he cursed himself for looking into her eyes. Her eyes full of pride for both herself and him, and relief. His emotions were as strong as he was vulnerable on his human night. Unable, to help himself, he wrapped his arms tightly around Kagome. Her eyes widened in surprise, but she held on the fabric at his shoulders, the only thing her arms trapped between their bodies could reach.

"Don't do that again, you fool. You could have been seriously hurt." He tightened his arms around her as much as he could, for once glad he was drained of his superhuman strength and could hug her without hesitation of hurting her.

"I'm sorry Inuyasha," she breathed, resting her head against his chest and relaxing. With their proximity, she could hear his heartbeat, rapid and loud. Whether it was from the adrenaline of the fight or out of nervousness for her, she wasn't sure.

"So stupid..." he mumbled, drawing her in tighter. His nose touched her hair briefly, and even with his human nose, he could smell her scent, the scent of the last flowers in spring being touched by the summer sunlight.

Neither noticed as the sun slowly rose, dawn already beginning to break. Inuyasha hardly felt as his claws and fangs regrew, as his hair changed from black to it's usual silver.

Kagome inhaled sharply, the once comforting strength of Inuyasha's arms suddenly multiplied tenfold. His claws dug into her back, and his arms were beginning to crush hers. The warm feeling in her stomach suddenly turned uncomfortable from the lack of air, and tears sprung to her eyes as she experienced firsthand how strong Inuyasha was.

The choking gasps Kagome was making were what drew Inuyasha out of his dreamlike reverie. Kagome's strong scent seemed to fade as it was replaced by fear and anxiety. He vaguely registered her hands on his shoulders, weakly trying to push him away, her blunt human fingernails scratching at him through his haori.

He grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her to arms length, looking her over with concern. "Kagome? What happened?" He looked on with worry when she doubled over, his arms the only things keeping her upright, and coughed loudly.

Between coughs, she managed to look up at him weakly. "It's fine, Inuyasha, you just squeezed a little too hard." She smiled faintly before coughing again and struggling to inhale.

"Huh?" He looked over over, and was horrified to see bruises forming along her upper arms. One of her arms was clasped around her waist, and he had no doubt that bruises were forming there as well.

He stared in shock at his hands, still holding Kagome up. "Did I do that?"

She looked up at him. "Oh Inuyasha, it was an accident, don't worry. I'll be fine by tomorrow. You didn't mean to." She saw her words had no effect on him, as his eyes were still filled with remorse and horror at his own actions. "Inuyasha, it wasn't intentional, please, they barely even hurt." Finally able to support herself, she moved his hands from her shoulders and held them in her own. She gave them a gentle squeeze. "I'm okay, really. You're the one that's still bleeding. Why don't you let me take care of that before I go have my bath, huh?"

"No," he cut in sharply. "You first."

"Inuyasha, really, I'm not even bleeding—"

"Doesn't matter. You first." He wouldn't meet her eyes, instead going towards her backpack and opening it to extract her first aid kit. "Lemme look at them."

She sighed, knowing she wouldn't win the argument. "Okay, but let me go bathe first, so I won't get the bandages wet, okay?" Inuyasha grumbled, but reluctantly agreed.

He waited without patience as he listened to Kagome, the sound of her shampoo bottle opening and closing, the deep inhale she took before dunking her head underwater, and the small hisses of pain from her injuries. Every time he flinched, unable to bear the sound of her pain.

He jumped down from the tree he was resting in when he heard her stop rustling her clothes, the usual indicator that she was done changing. Opening the first aid kit, he yanked out the large roll of ace bandages and marched over.

Kagome eyed him warily. "Whoa, Inuyasha, I don't need those! They're just bruises, some ointment will be fine." He wrinkled his nose, but nonetheless returned with the tube of ointment. He growled lightly when she reached to take them from him, yanking his arm back.

"I'll do it." Carefully grasping her wrist, he pulled up the sleeves of her shirt until the bruises, now slightly darker than before, were visible. He narrowed his eyes at the sight. Frowning, he squirted a generous amount of ointment into his hand and rubbed it liberally over her bruises. Kagome jumped at the feeling of the cold ointment on her warm skin, but settled down after Inuyasha's warm hands, rubbing the ointment in circles on her arm, began to relax her.

They both remained silent through the process. Once he was done with her arms, he tapped her shoulder gently. "Your stomach...?"

She smiled at him. "I'd prefer to do that myself. Thank you, Inuyasha." He blushed, but still didn't meet her eyes, instead handing her the ointment and turning so his back faced her.

The sharp sting of the ointment's smell reached his nose as she squeezed it out of the tube again, and he held his breath as best as he could. After a while, the scent faded as she capped the ointment. "All done, Inuyasha." Reaching back into the first aid kit, she took out the ace bandages and held them up. "Your turn."

He begrudgingly rolled his sleeve up and turned his arm towards her. "It's already healing, you don't have to." Kagome didn't falter in her procedure, pulling out her antiseptic spray and liberally going over the now shallow wound with it.

"Still, I want to help it get better as soon as possible." She worked in silence from that point on, her nimble fingering wrapping the wound tightly and tying off the bandage. When she finished, she saw Inuyasha's eyes, still downcast and evading her own.

She frowned and pursed her lips. "Inuyasha!" She planted her hand on either of his cheeks and yanked his head up to the same level as hers. His eyes froze when they met hers unintentionally. "Look. At. Me." She accentuated each word with a pat to his cheeks. "Everything is okay, accidents happen, and I forgive you, completely. I'm not hurt, you shouldn't feel guilty!" She released his face and yanked gently on both of his ears at once. "Now come on, Miroku and Sango are probably waiting for us back at the village."

With that said, Inuyasha watched, a little stunned, as Kagome packed up her bag and folded up her old clothes and stuffed them into her backpack. He slowly got to his feet, and when he reached Kagome's side, the two of them began their slow trek back to the village.

Kagome yawned, rather audibly, and scooted closer to Inuyasha, looping an arm through his and timidly resting her head on his shoulder. "Maybe I shouldn't have gotten up so early," she murmured through another yawn. Inuyasha looked down at the top of her curiously, a small blush visible on his cheeks.

Inuyasha stopped short, and Kagome, still holding on to him, did as well. "Inuyasha?" He said nothing, but instead knelt down and gestured for her to climb onto his back. With a grateful smile, she did, and he stood carefully, doing his best not to jar her as he walked back to the village.

On the outskirts of the village, they were meant with an anxious Sango and Miroku, Shippo and Kirara running around a few feet away. Miroku waved at him. "Inuyasha! Are you and Kagome all right? We woke up to find you two not here."

Inuyasha snorted. "Kagome wanted a bath before we left, and I went with her 'cause it was still dark out. No big deal." He eyed the two of them, Sango with her Hiraikotsu slung over her shoulders and Miroku with his staff. "You guys are ready to leave, then?"

"Uh, yeah," Sango said, not quite paying attention to him, but rather the girl on his back. "Shouldn't we wake up Kagome?"

Inuyasha peered over his shoulder to find Kagome's head rested there, her eyes closed and her breathing deep and even. She was fully asleep.

He shook his head. "No, just let her be. I've got her." He carefully adjusted her on his back before turning around and heading down the path. "Come on, let's get going."

Miroku and Sango exchanged a look before rushing off behind them, Shippo and Kirara at their heels.

Up ahead, Inuyasha looked down at his hands, holding Kagome's thighs. His claws just barely grazed her skin, and he shuddered to think what would happen if he held on like they weren't there. They'd sink into her skin, hurting her again like he had just before.

He opted for squeezing her legs affectionately, eyes staring at the ground in shame.

 _I promise, Kagome. It won't happen ever again._

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A/N: Well, there you go! My first stand alone one-shot. I didn't think it focused too much on like, family and friendship to file under _Togetherness_. So ta-da!

Yes, I know Inuyasha has like, ever hurt Kagome like that, which I found interesting, so I tried to put them in a situation where it could happen accidentally. I frankly can't fathom how Inuyasha keeps his strength in here, so here's the little baby losing some semblance of control over it.

I hope you enjoyed reading!


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